[Anglican Devotional 10 August 2022] Topic: Forgetting The Past Shame
TOPIC: Forgetting The Past Shame
TEXT: Ezekiel 39:21-29(NKJV)
” I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them.
“So the house of Israel shall know that I [am] the LORD their God from that day forward.
“The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword.
“According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.” ‘
” Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name —
‘after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their [own] land and no one made [them] afraid.
‘When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations,
‘then they shall know that I [am] the LORD their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer.
‘And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord GOD.”
THE MESSAGE:
Have you ever considered how much past shame influences our current lives? It does not take an average human being very long to remember something they are ashamed of. The Israelites, both the Northern and the Southern kingdoms, went into captivity because of their iniquity (v.23). But their captors oppressed them beyond measure. In verse 21, God says He would set His glory among the nations (Israel’s captors) by executing His judgement upon them. His purpose of doing this was to let the house of Israel know that God is the Lord their God; and to let other nations know that the Israelites went into captivity because of their iniquity, and not because those other nations had power over Israel (vv. 22-24). Verses 25-29 contain God’s redemption plans for His people.
This will make them forget their past shame.Today many Christians are facing different kinds of sufferings and persecutions. Some are suffering because of their sins, as we can see in the case of the Israelites; while some others suffer because of their faith in Christ. However, some sufferings are neither persecution nor punishment, but they are consequences of one’s actions. Let us return to God for He will surely put our shame behind us.
PRAYER: Almighty God, forgive me my sin and release me from my shame in Jesus’ Name. Amen
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